The controversy of the former Manchester man who blew himself up at an army base in Iraq continued in Parliament today.

Ministers refused to say whether Jamal al-Harith was the only British recipient of taxpayers’ money to have become an Isis fighter.

The fifty year old, originally from Moss Side and previously known as Ron Fiddler, was arrested by US forces in Pakistan in 2001 as a suspected Taliban sympathiser, before being sent to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba in 2002.

However he was released fafter two years following lobbying from Tony Blair’s Government and according to newspaper reports was later handed £1million out of taxpayers’ pocket in compensation.

Newspaper reports say that using his payout, al-Harith bought a three-bed, semi-detached home in Stockport, for £220,000, but struggled to find work after his release.

Ben Wallace, the security minister, refused to confirm details of the compensation, when he faced an urgent question in the Commons, instead citing legally binding confidentiality agreements.

Mr Wallace was also asked if he could reassure the public about the “current status and whereabouts of the other three people released from Guantanamo Bay alongside Mr al-Harith in 2004”.

 

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